Five Star Movement: is Italy having a laugh?

Beppe Grillo, leader of the 'Movimento 5 Stelle', speaks at a political rally in Rome. Photograph: Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images

Age: Tre anni e mezzo.

Appearance: Molto felice!

Are you going to keep this up? No.

Good … Wait a minute. Was that an English no? Certamente!

I knew it. Next question: why are you being jocular in Italian? Because it's all the rage, especially in Italy, where the Movimento 5 Stelle, a protest group led by a 64-year-old comedian called Beppe Grillo, has just won more votes in the general election than any other single party.

My mother! So we're not talking about a sect based on the teachings of the Romford pop quintet whose hits included System Addict? No, we're not.

So Italian voters, unhappy with the same old clowns dominating their politics, have voted for a new old clown instead? Yes.

That'll teach 'em! No it won't. The Five Star Movement isn't part of a political bloc, you see, which means it won't actually run the country. The centre-left will narrowly control the Italian parliament's lower house, while the centre-right just holds the upper one, meaning that nothing gets done, Italy's borrowing costs will become unsustainable, and they will probably just have another election.

Splendid. We'll see more of Grillo and his chums on TV soon then, will we? I'm afraid not. It is a central tenet of the party that their candidates do not appear on television.